Cartoon and Column: Kevin Spacey in Baby Driver

When I heard the latest revelation of Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey sexually assaulting a young man, I believed it.

Last month, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. Spacey said he didn’t remember the incident but didn’t deny it and said he owed Rapp an apology. He also used the revelation to out himself as gay. Usually, when someone famous comes out of the closet they are celebrated for their bravery. In Spacey’s case, it comes off more like a defense and a deflection. There’s nothing straight or gay about sexually assaulting minors. In this case, it’s pedophilia.

There have been 13 more allegations against Spacey, including accusations from filmmaker Tony Montana, actor Robert Cavazos, Richard Dreyfus’ son Harry, and eight people who worked on House Of Cards. The British newspaper, The Guardian, claims they have been approached by a “number of people” who worked at the Old Vic, where Spacey was artistic director for 11 years and where he’s alleged to have groped and behaved inappropriately during that time.

In response to the accusations, Netflix canceled House Of Cards and Spacey’s scenes in the upcoming film All the Money in the World have been reshot with Christopher Plummer.

It’s been fairly pointed out how accusations by women toward Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby weren’t believed for 30 years, but one accusation from a male about another male gets a hit television show canceled immediately. In a very stark contrast, That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson has been accused by four women of rape, yet Netflix has not canceled the show he’s on. Maybe because no one is aware he’s currently doing a show on Netflix. Interestingly enough, Masterson used to DJ under the name DJ Donkey Punch. Nice.

The newest accusation toward Spacey comes from journalist Heather Unruh, who claims Spacey groped her then-18-year-old son in Nantucket in July 2016, which sounds like the basis for a vulgar limerick. Unruh says her son was starstruck to meet Spacey at the restaurant/bar where he worked, and that he lied to Spacey about his age so he could drink, and Spacey proceeded to liquor the kid up. Unruh further states that Spacey groped her son, and while Spacey went to the restroom a very nice person told the boy to run, which he did and reported the incident to a few people, but not the police. The only part of the story I find questionable is, why did the bar allow Spacey to give the underage person alcohol? Surely, they would have known he wasn’t 21 yet. The rest of it sounds familiar to me, which is why I believe it.

While it didn’t involve any celebrities, I had a similar incident when I was 16. When I hear about the fear and embarrassment, I can relate. I was so afraid, I left a second-story apartment without using the stairs and out of embarrassment, I didn’t tell anyone about it for decades. I kinda felt like it was my fault for putting myself into the situation, and being 1982, I wrongly thought it was a gay thing. Also, the details from Spacey’s accusers mirror the strategy I experienced. I’m sure when women, who face much harsher incidents than I had to endure, hear other women’s details they too spot the same strategies used by attackers.

We need to listen to the accusers, no matter how talented the accused may be, or rich, or what elected office he holds.

Creative note: I was hesitant about writing about being assaulted. I wrote more details, then I cut them out. I felt they weren’t needed and I’m still kind of chicken about it. Don’t worry though. I wasn’t hurt and was more scared than anything. I wanted to write this note in case anyone was concerned.

I’m not a fan of using movie titles for analogies in my cartoons, but I couldn’t resist when I thought of this idea. Despite how horrible of a person he is, Baby Driver is a unique movie. Everything director Edgar Wright makes is kinda weird and awesome, like Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. A lot of people don’t get them. People who like my cartoons would probably appreciate those films.